Fire danger puts a damper on Fourth of July fireworks sales

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Fireworks booths are opening this week in time for the Independence Day holiday on Sunday.

 But the outposts are becoming few and far between, with fire danger cited as the reason.

"We keep safety precautions, a fire extinguisher and water nearby just for emergencies," said James Stone, a customer arriving to buy fireworks at a Rotary Club booth in San Bruno. "We're picking up a little bit of everything this year, for the big opening show and the grand finale."

Stone and wife Jen live in San Francisco but will light up the fireworks at a party in San Bruno, where the safe-and-sane products are legal.

That contrasts with almost every other city - and unincorporated areas - in the Bay Area where all fireworks are outlawed, regardless of size or power.

"They're just flat-out dangerous," Vallejo Fire Battalion Chief Cliff Campbell said while overseeing a 4-alarm fire last week, ignited by fireworks in a housing subdivision.

The blaze raced through open space and into a dozen backyards, a direct threat to homes and causing evacuations.

"It's just continuing to get worse until the 4th July gets here, where fireworks start about a month before and continue to get busier until the 4th of July," said Campbell.

Concerns from fire agencies intensified in recent years after devastating wildfires and sustained drought conditions.

"This is probably the most nerve-wracking seven days I have as Fire Chief and Fire Marshal," Sebastopol Fire Chief Bill Braga told KTVU before his city banned the vendors this year. "I'm always thinking about it, 24-7, thinking about fires."

Petaluma has also pulled the plug, leaving only Cloverdale and Rohnert Park as North Bay municipalities that allow sales.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, sales are allowed in Dublin, Newark, Union City, and Gilroy, as well as Pacifica and Dixon. 

"It should be more at this point," observed Stone, "because everyone should be open to fireworks as long as they have safety zones, I think it should be okay."

Certainly, civic groups and non-profits that fund-raise with fireworks would agree.

"You lose the money so you're not able to help out with your projects during the year, scholarships and such, " said Nicole Arretche, who supervises the San Bruno Rotary booth in San Bruno.

"And everyone looks forward to this, people are dropping 400, 500 dollars, looking forward to being back together and celebrating the 4th."

Arretche admits fireworks purchased legally in one locale can easily be transported to areas where they are banned.

"We do have to trust that you're going to be safe with them and staying in San Bruno but can't 100 percent guarantee that they are."

This year, 297 California communities still allow Safe and Sane fireworks sales.

Some communities are refusing to give them up without a fight.

Rohnert Park voters pushed back on a city-imposed ban, so the question will be on a September election ballot.

San Bruno sellers expect to be busy as the number of vendors dwindles.

"We thought everyone might have bought them up but we got lucky and found some," said Stone, leaving with an armful of selections. "It's a family tradition my parents passed down to me, a good experience to build memories with loved ones and it would be sad if we lose it."